§What is this “port forwarding” I hear about, how do I enable it and why is it clever to use this?[edit]

Port forwarding will allow other computers to request a connection from you. In general it allows more connections as your machine is now able to both make and receive “phone calls.” If possible you should enable it, unless your equipment (computer, router, etc.) is adversely affected by the extra open connections.

The two most common mistakes made by BitTorrent newbies are not forwarding ports and not seeding torrents. If you don't forward your ports and don't allow KTorrent full access on your software/hardware firewall (if you have enabled one), you will not get the most out of BitTorrent. You can get help on port forwarding at portforward.com, and some (slightly technical) information is available at Brian's BitTorrent FAQ and Guide. Seeding is when you leave your BitTorrent client open after your download has finished to help redistribute it (you share the file a little while downloading, but it is even more helpful if you continue to distribute the completed file). It is most likely that most of the data you downloaded was from other seeders, so help give back to the community! KTorrent will begin seeding your torrents once they are completely downloaded, and will continue until the torrent is removed (right click the torrent, then click Remove). Remember that while seeding, KTorrent is uploading using your internet connection, and if your internet service provider limits the amount you may upload, you might want to monitor how much data and for how long you seed your torrents.

Check in the log viewer for Authentication(S) messages. If you can spot a single message with (S), you know you can receive incoming connections.

§Can I use KTorrent to index and share a folder on my disk without creating a torrent file?[edit]

No. KTorrent uses the BitTorrent protocol, which does not use a global network like Kazaa. Instead, BitTorrent uses a separate network for each torrent file. To share a file or folder, you will need to generate a torrent file for the files.

Every torrent depends on other users who are downloading the same torrent. You might find a torrent which does not have a lot of peers yet. Just let the torrent run and most of the time, it will speed up after a while.

§I just added a torrent, but there aren't any seeders or leechers in the swarm. What is wrong?[edit]

Check whether the torrent was taken offline by the tracker. Some trackers send a message for this, which you can find in the trackers tab.

Every torrent depends on how many peers are in its swarm and how well they are seeding. Make sure you are able to receive incoming connections so others will be able to share the file with you. Also ensure you are seeding well enough yourself. You can check whether the torrent has a good potential by looking at how many leechers and seeders have joined the swarm.

§I have generated a torrent file. What now? How do I share my data with a friend?[edit]

You will first have to upload a torrent file to a BitTorrent tracker. The torrent file should contain a tracker URL for it to work correctly, and some (private) trackers have a separate URL for each registered account so they can keep track of your traffic. After that, your friend can download the torrent from the tracker.

§I have set the max connections to a few thousand, but no matter how many peers connect, the download is not any faster![edit]

Speed does not depend on how many connections are established, but rather on how well peers are sharing a file.

§Can I use KTorrent to send a file to my friend without having to share it with other peers?[edit]

Yes. Use 127.0.0.1 as your tracker URL and send the torrent to your friend. After that, add your friend's IP manually by right clicking the torrent and choose Add Peers.

§I have configured NAT in my router to forward ports to my computer, but once in a while, peers are unable to connect to me. Can I fix this?[edit]

Most routers assign IP addresses by using DHCP, and most of them do not lock the IP address. Your computer might be getting another IP address, because another computer in your LAN went online. In this case, your router is still forwarding to the old address, which would be another computer in your LAN! To fix the problem, try using UPnP and the UPnP plug-in if your router supports this, lock DHCP by using your MAC address, or use statically assigned IPs on your network.

§When I set my upload rate to a minimum, my download speed drops too. Why is this, and can it be fixed?[edit]

BitTorrent, as a file sharing system, depends on users uploading data. When you do not upload enough data to the swarm, other peers will not be willing to share data with you, and your download speeds will drop. If you are able to upload at a faster rate with your internet connection, you should set the upload rate higher and make sure you seed your torrents after they finish downloading.

§I have set KTorrent to use 120 upload slots, but my download is only getting slower.[edit]

If are not uploading enough, peers will simply ignore you even if you have enough slots. Check that you have set at least 2KB/s per slot to ensure peers will receive enough data.

§Can i download or seed a torrent from my usb stick with KTorrent?[edit]